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Courtesy: Struck by Lightning

Meet Hollywood's newest hyphenate. Except you've already met him!

Yep, it's Glee star Chris Colfer, who wrote and starred in Struck by Lightning, the dark, irreverent coming-of-age comedy that premiered Saturday night at the Tribeca Film Festival.

"It was insane. It was really crazy," he said. "It was easily one of the best nights of my life."

He was also "shocked" and elated by the all-star cast that signed on to the project, including Allison Janney, Dermot Mulroney, Polly Bergen, Christina Hendricks, Angela Kinsey, Sarah Hyland and Bridesmaids' RebelWilson.

In Struck by Lightning, Colfer plays Carson, a high school senior fiercely determined to attend Northwestern University and become a famous writer. To set himself apart from the competition, he starts a literary magazine and blackmails his classmates into writing for it.

So is Colfer, 21, the real-life version of the ruthless character he plays on the silver screen?

"I wish I was like Carson in high school!" he told E! News with a laugh. "[Writing his character] was a way for me to vent to people I could not vent to."

"Carson's a version of me," he said. "A version of the way I think of people."

And like Kurt Hummel, Colfer's character on Glee, Carson is a victim of bullying. "But I think Carson maybe handles it a little better," Colfer said. "I would like kids who are bullied to handle it more like Carson. He just lets it roll off his back and gives as good as he gets."

Colfer said that while Carson is "a little bit of a bully," he's "not a bully by nature."

"He's a bully by circumstance," he explained. "He just doesn't let people push him around."

And because Colfer wanted to make Carson a relatable character to all different types of people, he said he "specifically did not address his sexuality in the movie."

"I feel like whenever kids see a movie with a message, if they see the character's gay, straight kids stop listening," he said. "And if the gay kids see a character's straight, they stop listening. It's like, 'Oh, that's not me, I can't relate to him.' So I purposely make him a universal character to both sides."

"I hope this movie inspires inspiration," he said, adding that he "kind of wrote this movie" for his fans.

"In some respects, I kind of live for them," he said. "In high school, I had so much anxiety. I needed approval! I think I kind of get that through my fans…I would lose credibility if they knew how much I like them."

Nope. That just makes us like him even more.

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Your information may be shared with other NBCUniversal businesses and used to better tailor our services and advertising to you. For more details about how we use your information, see our Privacy Policy. If you are located outside of the U.S., your information may be transferred to, processed and used in the U.S.